Monday, September 23, 2013

Lime Avocado "Cheese"cake- MoFo Post Seventeen

Post #17 for Vegan MoFo 2013.

Cheesecake after baking, but before it set in the fridge

I have focused all of my recipes on savory entrees thus far. I am a fan of savory items, but I also enjoy sweets once and a while. Lately, I have been eating more sweets than normal because of all of the birthdays and the amazing friends that I have. In keeping with my sweet-eating month, I thought it was time to create a Latin inspired dessert. The thought of Flan went through my head, but I am not a fan of the consistency or the dessert in general. I know that it is a widely loved dessert, but it just is not my thing. Not to mention the large reliance on eggs in the dessert.

As I pondered my options, I was reminded of two things. First was margarita pie that I had seen people eat at a previous job. It was not the most appetizing looking dessert as it was bright green and was made of sorbet. However, it was served with a pretzel crust and that was of interest to me. I am not a fan of sorbet either. I have not had a vegan sorbet, but before I went vegan I had tried it several times and felt was not worth the calories.

Cheesecake after it had set in the fridge

Second, at Paladar Vegetariano we were served a lime and avocado pie that was out of this world! The pie was raw and delicious and a perfect ending to that nice evening. I originally wanted to recreate the raw pie, but I made an attempt that I felt was a pure failure. I brought it as an experiment to dinner at a friends house and it was not edible to me. John and my friend ate it and said that they liked it, but I am convinced they were being nice. It was hard for me to stomach. I did not put in enough lime to avocado ratio left out a sweet element to the dessert.

Thinking of the margarita pie and the pie from Paladar Vegetariano, I had the idea to create an avocado lime cheesecake. One of my first attempts at making a vegan dessert was a cheesecake and it was a pure success. I was able to fool carnivores with the dessert, thinking it was a cheesecake made from cows milk. The recipe is such a success, that I wanted to follow a similar structure. The difference was that in this creation, wanted to remove some of the vegan cream cheese from the recipe. Avocado is creamy and seemed like a good substitution for some of that cream cheese. So I set out to replace some of it with the creamy avocado to see how the cheesecake would turn out.

I brought cheesecake experiment to a birthday dinner for a friend. Some people asked for seconds, so I think the recipe was a success. I would like to use the pretzel crust for other pies and plan to try a different crust with the cheesecake as well to experiment even further. The pretty green of the cheesecake was fun! I also enjoyed the creaminess of the avocado and vegan cream cheese. The lime was quite strong in the pie, but it felt appropriate. If you are not a fan of lime, I suggest cutting the recipe down to one lime juiced. I plan on making this again! What fun desserts have you created lately?

Lime Avocado "Cheese"cake

Crust:

2.5 c gluten free pretzels

1 tbsp vegan butter, melted

2 tbsp brown sugar

Pie filling:

1.5 avocados

1 tub of vegan cream cheese

2 limes, juiced

1 c vegan sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c sorghum flour

For the crust, set the oven at 375 degrees. Crush the pretzels in to small pieces using a bag and the back of something flat (I used a measuring cup). Mix in the melted butter and brown sugar. Press into a large pie pan. Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes until crispy. Remove from the oven and let cool while you make the filling.

Place the avocados and cream cheese into a bowl. Use a mixer to make the filling smooth. Add in the lime juice, vegan sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix more incorporating all of the ingredients. Then fold in the flour. Spoon the mixture into the cooled pie crust and bake 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Then place in the refrigerator over night to set. Serve as is or you can use whip cream or berries on top.